Canada closing gap with U.S. in workforce race with immigration boost
Global News
The annual number of permanent residents admitted to the U.S. was well below pre-pandemic levels in 2021, while Canada welcomed the most newcomers ever in a single year.
Since the global onset of COVID-19, Canada has been gradually closing the gap with the United States when it comes to attracting and keeping an important economic prize: new permanent residents.
The annual number of permanent residents admitted to the U.S. was well below pre-pandemic levels in 2021, while Canada welcomed the most newcomers ever in a single year, analysis by the Association for Canadian Studies shows.
Last year, the number of new permanent residents in the U.S. barely budged to 738,199, up slightly from 707,362 in 2020, the year the pandemic began.
But in Canada, the number soared to more than 405,000 – more than twice the number who arrived in 2020, and still nearly 20 per cent more than in 2019.
It’s a record that will likely be beaten more than once in the coming years, as a Canadian federal immigration plan released earlier this month aims to admit 465,000 new permanent residents in 2023 and 500,000 a year by 2025, with a particular focus on bringing in people with needed skills and experience.
In Canada, “immigration is the single factor driving economic growth, and the market right now is calling for more immigration to meet labour market needs,” said Jack Jedwab, president of the Association for Canadian Studies.
“That’s not the discourse in the United States – not to the same degree.”
The U.S. is, of course, just as aware of the link between legal migration and economic growth. But the American conversation is invariably dominated by politically loaded concerns about those in the country, or seeking entry, without legal status.
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